PCWorld’s entire slideshow is gut-wrenching, but be sure to check out the 13th entry.
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Peeking Inside the iPad
The New York Times has a neat, Flash-based interactive page showing the insides of the iPad. It really is a battery with a computer strapped to it.
The Bottom Line
Jason Snell, bringing some common sense to recent Apple news:
First, it’s absolutely appropriate for people to dislike specific strategic moves Apple makes. I don’t necessarily agree with all of them myself, but I think I understand why Apple is making them. (For example, I understand why Apple dumped Macworld Expo. I don’t necessarily agree with that decision, but I do understand why the company made it.)
Second, Apple is neither a charity nor a public utility. It’s a profit-making corporation with a whole lot of shareholders and billions of dollars in the bank. Apple exists to make money. Yes, under the guidance of Steve Jobs, its mission is to change the world by making innovative and exquisitely designed technology products—but that mission ultimately serves the purpose of making money.
Aluminum and Glass: My Review of the iPad
After Apple unveiled the iPad back in January, almost everyone I know asked me if I was going to buy one. My answer was usually a jumbled thought about not needing a third device.
Not wanting a device and not being excited about it are two different things. In the months leading up the its release, I was excited about it. More so, I was excited about seeing what app developers were going to do with extra screen size and power.
Jobs Weighs in on Section 3.3.1
Steve Jobs, in an email to Tao Effect’s Greg Slepak:
We’ve been there before, and intermediate layers between the platform and the developer ultimately produces sub-standard apps and hinders the progress of the platform.
I’m not one to put a stamp of approval on everything Jobs says, but I think he is right on the money on this.
De-Googling the iPhone
iLounge, however, also noted that in iPhone 4’s Safari application, Apple has removed the “Google” branding from the search button and simply replaced it with “Search”. While seemingly a minor detail, Apple has been said to be in discussions with Microsoft to replace Google as the default search engine on the iPhone. If this were to happen, Google would likely still be a user enable-able option.
This, coupled with Steve Jobs’ bit about search not being “where it’s at” on mobile devices can’t be rubbing Google the right way.
Twitter Buys Tweetie
I’m happy to say that as of today Twitter is the proud owner of Tweetie - and I’m joining their mobile team and starting work on turning Tweetie.app into Twitter.app, for iPhone and iPad.
Holy crap. This could be a big blow to third-party apps, who may find it difficult to compete with an “official” Twitter app.
Adobe’s CTO Weighs in on SDK Issue
First of all, the ability to package an application for the iPhone or iPad is one feature in one product in Creative Suite. CS5 consists of 15 industry-leading applications, which contain hundreds of new capabilities and a ton of innovation. We intend to still deliver this capability in CS5 and it is up to Apple whether they choose to allow or disallow applications as their rules shift over time.
Engadget: HTC and Palm Should Merge
Chris Ziegler knocks this one out of the park.
Apple, Adobe & Section 3.3.1
Since the introduction of the iPhone in January 2007, the platform hasn’t allowed Flash content to play in the browser — or anywhere else for that matter. Apple has always cited Flash’s performance as the problem. True, it’s performance is abysmal. Additionally, Flash is not an open standard, as it requires property software to both create and view content.
But Flash’s penetration on the desktop is virtually 100%. It’s a huge thing to ignore, and Apple has taken a lot of flack for it. Some of the flack is a bit unfair, since many other mobile handsets cannot play Flash content at this time. It’s only in beta for Android and WebOS, while Windows Phone 7 devices will lack Flash support once it hits shelves later this year.
Typography and the iPad
A piece by Stephen Coles highlighted with lots of thoughtful input, unlike some of Apple’s decisions in the iPad’s UI.
Apple Outlines iPhone OS 4
Here are the details. iPhone 3GS and current iPod touch models fully supported, older devices fragmented. Coming to iPad in the fall. Highlights include multitasking, improved Mail, iBooks and Apple-supplied ads for developers to use in their free apps.